xxviii Annual Report of the Council. 



The following letter was addressed to Professor D. 

 Mendeleeff, of St. Petersburg, on his completing, in February 

 last, his seventieth year : — 



[copy.] 



February gth, jgo4. 

 On behalf of the members of the Manchester Literary 

 and Philosophical Society, we beg to send you our most 

 sincere congratulations on the occasion of the celebration of 

 your 70th birthday. 



In this House, where Dalton worked, and where he 

 announced his Atomic Theory, your brilliant correlation of 

 the Atomic Weights will always be honoured among the 

 richest fruit that has sprung from Dalton's hypothesis. Your 

 work has inspired Chemistry with a new life : there is no 

 department of Physical Science which has not been fertilised 

 and invigorated by your ideas. 



We have the honour to be, 



Your obedient servants, 

 (Signed) W. BOYD DAWKINS, President. 



FRANCIS JONES, 



CHARLES H. LEES.' ^"'•■^^^''^'""^'- 



In reply to the above, the President received the following 

 letter from Professor D. Mendeleeff: — 



[copy.] 



■|§- February, igo4. 



St. Petersbourg. 

 Dear Sir, 



I beg you to accept and convey to the members of the 

 Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society my heartiest 

 thanks for the kind congratulations to my 70th birthday. 



As a sincere lover of Dalton's genius, it is to me 

 specially pleasant to hear from Dalton's followers that my 

 work has been connected with the principles of his most 

 fruitful ideas, which I have really taken up to such extent, 

 that 1 hope to die always keeping at them without being 

 disturbed by the new trials to destroy Dalton's theory. But 

 all these trials, by my mind, are based upon a mixed-up 

 conception of matter, energy and soul. 



Yours very truly, 



D. MENDELEEFF. 



